Five other famous Twitter gaffes

Five other famous Twitter gaffes

West Bromwich MP Tom Watson found himself in a Twitter mix-up today, here are five other Twitter gaffes:

1. Labour leader Ed Miliband bungled the simple task of sending a tweet to mark the death of Bob Holness, the host of Blockbusters.

Mr Holness died peacefully in his sleep aged 83 earlier this month.

A message posted on Ed Miliband’s Twitter account read: "Sad to hear that Bob Holness has died. A generation will remember him fondly from Blackbusters."

2. A man who posted a Twitter message threatening to blow up an airport as a joke, didn’t just suffer public humiliation, he also gained a criminal record.

Paul Chambers from Doncaster, was taken to court and slapped with a heavy fine after losing an appeal against his conviction after being found guilty of sending a menacing electronic communication.

The tweet he sent to his 600 followers in the early hours of 6 January, 2010, said: "Robin Hood Airport is closed. You’ve got a week... otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!"

The trainee accountant said he acted in frustration after Robin Hood Airport in South Yorkshire was closed by snow.

After the hearing, actor and Twitter fan Stephen Fry tweeted that he would pay Chambers’ fine.

3. Erdington Councillor Gareth Compton made the headlines in November 2010, after he published a tweet saying that a journalist should be stoned to death.

The Conservative councillor said: "Can someone please stone Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to death? I shan’t tell Amnesty if you don’t. It would be a blessing, really,"

4. Probably the greatest self-inflicted Twitter wound was suffered by Anthony Weiner. He was an influential Democratic congressman from New York until June last year when he tweeted a photo of his bulging underwear to a female college student.

At first Weiner claimed his Twitter account had been hacked but later admitted he was responsible and resigned from office.

5. Actor Charlie Sheen is among the group of Twitter users who struggle with the difference between a public tweet and a private direct message.

The 46-year-old, who now has more than six million followers?, was using the site to send his phone number to pop singer Justin Bieber in December last year.

But his message, "310-954-7277 Call me bro. C", was instead sent out as a tweet and was seen by many more than his then five million followers. The tweet was promptly removed and his number was disconnected after being inundated with messages and phone calls.